A wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, typically comprises at least one server, such as a relatively high-capacity computer, configured for serving a number of client devices, such as personal computers or mobile phones, connected to the WAN. It is often desirable to download, from the server to a client device, applications, such as games, or application content, such as wallpaper, ring tones, sound clips, and/or the like. To facilitate the download of an application (used herein to include content as well), a client device is conventionally provided with a browser having a content/application download model (CADM), such as a Java Application Management System (Java-AMS), Open Mobile Alliance-Content Download (OMA-CoD), Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW), and the like.
In using a browser to download an application in a conventional manner, a user first selects an application to download, and the browser then downloads from the server an application descriptor for the selected application. The client device then examines the application descriptor to determine whether the application is suitable for downloading to the device. If it is determined that the application is suitable for downloading, then, using the information in the application descriptor, the client device proceeds to download the application from the server for use by the user.
While browsers are effective mechanisms for downloading applications, they utilize a protocol stack, and the combination of the browser and the protocol stack consume in a client device a substantial portion of available memory and processing power. Even when a browser is not being used, it often continues to run in the background, thereby continuing to consume valuable memory and processing power. While this is not a significant drawback for conventional desktop computers, such as personal computers, which have substantial memory and processing power, it can constitute a problem with handheld devices, such as wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile cellular phones, and the like, that are configured for downloading applications from WANs, such as the Internet, and have relatively limited memory and processing power.
It is anticipated that the number of software applications available on WAN's, such as the Internet, and the like, will increase, such applications including enhanced browsers that will replace existing browsers. However, it can be problematic to download a new browser using an existing browser because, for example, the two browsers must be stored in memory, at least temporarily, at the same time, requiring not only additional memory, but also additional processing power. Furthermore, while a new browser mechanism may be provided with features (e.g., browsing) used often by the user, it may not be compatible with an existing download mechanism (e.g., CADM) residing in the handheld device. In such cases, when the user upgrades to a new browser, the new browser may not be able to download additional applications.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for enabling handheld devices to download applications in a manner which is economical with respect to memory and processing power of the handheld device, and which is also preferably not dependent on a particular browser.